Cava Group Inc.'s founders and financial backers dumped billions of dollars in stock at prices inflated by hype about the company’s supposedly soaring trajectory, an unsealed lawsuit said Tuesday.
A pension fund hit Cava’s corporate leaders with insider trading claims, saying they helped affiliates of the Belgian billionaire Eric Wittouck unload shares worth nearly $1.8 billion while selling the public a bogus narrative about accelerating growth. Two of Cava’s directors are linked to Invus Group LLC, a New York firm that manages investments for Artal Group SA, a Wittouck family holding company, according to the Delaware Chancery Court filing.
Invus, Artal, and Wittouck — part of an industrial dynasty with roots in Belgium’s nobility that made its fortune in sugar — aren’t named as defendants. Members of Cava’s board and management allegedly sold nearly $500 million in stock between August 2024 and March 2025, a figure that includes roughly $330 million in sales by trusts affiliated with co-founder Ronald Shaich, a billionaire who previously started Au Bon Pain Inc. and Panera Bread Co.
“While the defendants reaped more than $2 billion of profits, stockholders were left holding the proverbial bag,” the suit says.
